Reverto Tempus
by xAngeLBoreanaZx
Summary: Tara's spell goes wrong and Dawn is turned into a four year old girl, Buffy wants her to stay that way, and Dawn only seems to favor Willow. R&R! CHAPTER 11 IS UP!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- blah blah blah Joss owns all blah blah blah don't sue me blah blah blah enjoy

A/N- everything is a little warped in this story, but not too much. Dawn is 13, Buffy Xander Tara and Willow are all around 24-25, Giles Spike and Anya are w/e age they are. And L.A. isn't really a part of this story, so Buffy Willow and Xander have all known each other much longer.

Also I suck at writing fight scenes, so just ignore it.

"So Dawnie, you excited about your birthday tomorrow?" Xander asked.

"Not really, I guess I don't really get excited about birthdays anymore, I mean when your little getting older is like the best thing ever, and then when I was like 10 I stopped caring, then you know, 13, you have to care about that, its all 'beginning of a new era of boys and craziness'. But I don't know, 14 just isn't that big of a deal." Dawn replied.

"Who said anything about boys?" Buffy enquired.

"Well," Dawn started as a green demon with a large claw on one of his hands came out of the wall.

Buffy jumped up and tackled it to the ground. Xander got up and ran for the weapons chest. He got a cross bow and aimed it at the demon. He missed terribly hitting and shattering a picture frame. This distracted Buffy for only a second, but it was enough for the demon to get her on the ground.

Buffy kicked the demon off of her and into the kitchen and hit him over the head with a stool. The demon grabbed her feet to try and make her fall over but she used to momentum to roll over him and land on the other side. She then grabbed a long knife off the counter, but not before the demon made a sword materialize into his hands.

Xander tried to push the demon away but Buffy pushed him behind the counter. "Xander! Door! Open the door!" She yelled. He opened it and she kicked the demon outside. They continued to fight and then finally she beheaded the ugly thing with his own sword. She stood up and winced at the pain, the demon had managed to cut her upper arm. "Ugh" she sighed as she walked inside.

"You ok?" Xander asked closing the door behind her.

"Yeah I'm fine." Buffy walked back into the living room and sat down while Xander got the first aid kit.

"Yeah ok I think you should go to bed Dawn. It's like 11:30 or something" Buffy told her.

"Fine by me, I'm tired as hell and your arms too sick to look at anyway." She scoffed as she made her way to the stairs, "Good night people."

"Good night" everyone replied in unison.

Dawn went upstairs and changed into a light blue night shirt. Then she brushed her teeth and she lied down. She felt a weird pain in her left arm so she was going to go downstairs to get an aspirin but she decided she better not because Buffy would probably just yell at her. So she just let it go and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Ok I know it's kinda stupid right now and I'm sorry its so short but I already kinda know where I want to go with this and I plan to make it much better so please R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Buffy woke up to the sun shining in her face. That was weird, usually she woke up to- and then she turned over and realized her alarm hadn't gone off. She shot out of bed and became awake instantly. Her first stop was Willow and Tara's door. "Willow! Will are you awake!" she said as she knocked on the door. "Willow! Tara!" she continued knocking. Then Willow came to the door.

"What is it Buff?" Willow asked as she fixed her hair.

"We slept in; you guys are late for class"

Willow looked at the clock that was on the wall in the hallway. "Oh no!" she shrieked as she went back in her room.

Next Buffy came to Dawn's room. "Dawn! Wake up! You're late for school!" she opened the door and threw a slipper at her sleeping sister. "Dawn come on!" she said as she walked back out.

Buffy went in the bathroom and went through her 'late' routine. She put her hair into a quick bun. She then brushed her teeth and put some light makeup on.

"Dawn seriously wake up!" she yelled as she walked by her sister's room yet again with no answer. She went into her closet and got dressed.

She walked out of her room and Dawn was still sleeping.

"Dawn! Wake up right now!" she yelled while walking toward Dawn's bed, "You're gonna be late!"

Then she realized something was wrong. Dawn's eyes were wide open and she wasn't breathing. Her tone soon turned to panic.

"Dawn? Dawn! Oh god Dawn wake up! Willow!" she screamed while shaking her sister. "Willow call 911!" Tara ran into Dawn's room.

"What happened?" Tara asked.

"Just call 911" Buffy pleaded frantically. Then Tara ran back into the other room.

Willow ran and got the phone and brought it into Dawn's room as she dialed.

"9-1-1. What is your emergency?" the woman voice on the phone said.

"Um my my friend sh-she's not breathing and she wont wake up" Willow stammered.

"Oh god no th-this can't happen! It's her birthday! This can't happen on her birthday!" Buffy cried.

"Does your friend have a pulse?" The woman asked.

"I-I'm trying to find one, I-I don't feel anything!" Willow panicked with Buffy crying in the back round.

"Ok miss calm down, an ambulance is on its way. Do you know CPR?"

"Yes"

"Ok you need to perform CPR on your friend"

Tara was sitting cross-legged in the center of a pentagram with Dawn's picture in the center repeating a spell.

"Reverto Tempus, Reverto Tempus, Reverto Tempus, Reverto Tempus,"

"Ok" Willow put the phone down. "Help me get her on the floor" she told Buffy. Buffy complied; Buffy didn't remember any of this from school, so she was freaking out. Willow tilted Dawn's head back and blew into her mouth. Then she gave her 15 chest compressions. She repeated it and then she checked for a pulse again, she couldn't find one, so she began again. Suddenly white and purple light began swirling around Dawn's limp form.

"What's going on? Willow are you doing that!" Buffy stood completely unaware of what was happening.

"No it's not me, I think it's..."

Dawn's body suddenly shrunk down in size very dramatically, and her clothes changed. The lights stopped. Then Tara ran in.

"Did it work?"

Dawn awoke with a very bad headache. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh no!" Willow and Tara shrieked in unison.

R&R! Hope y'all like it so far!


	3. Chapter 3

"What's going on?" Dawn questioned, "You-you're all different! Where am I?"

"Dawn?" Buffy turned around angrily, "what did you do!" she demanded.

"Oh god I-I don't know! It-it wasn't supposed to do that! Maybe I did something wrong?" Tara tried to explain herself looking to Willow for help.

"Ya think?" Buffy gestured toward Dawn, "how old is she?"

"I don't know, the spell I did wasn't supposed to make her younger, just supposed to set her back a couple of hours so we could get her to a hospital or-or something."

"Ok well it DID make her younger so you better fix it!"

"Buffy she was just trying to help" Willow offered.

"Yeah and I'm thankful that my sister isn't dead, but," Buffy pointed at Dawn, "look at her!"

Dawn was back up into her dresser muttering to herself.

"What is it sweetie?" Willow asked gently.

"Stop it. Stop yelling!" she yelled before she started crying, "Stop"

Willow held her close and tried to comfort her.

Suddenly Buffy calmed down a lot. She walked up to Dawn and Willow and knelt down. "Dawn?" Dawn turned her head in response. "Dawnie how old are you?"

"Why?" Dawn asked innocently

"Because," Buffy thought carefully before finishing, "because I forgot."

Dawn scowled at this, it was just like Buffy to forget her birthday.

"Six" Dawn answered before looking up at Buffy to see her reaction, but the reaction came from behind her.

"You are not" Willow said in disbelief

"Yeahh!" Dawn argued.

"No, you aren't" Willow turned to Buffy, "today's her fourth birthday."

Buffy looked at her as if to say 'huh?'

"I remember what she was wearing." Willow explained.

Dawn made a face and crossed her arms.

"She wasn't wearing that though" Buffy gestured to Dawn's purple daisy top and jean shorts.

"Yeah she was. She was wearing that in the beginning of the day, then she went downstairs before her party and got into the cake, it got all over and she had to change" Willow explained.

"Mommy wouldn't let me wear my tutu." Dawn pouted.

"Ok umm, Dawn, go downstairs with Tara ok?" Buffy said taking her sisters hand.

Dawn pushed it away. "No! I don't want to!"

"Please?" Buffy tried again.

"NO!" Dawn screamed as Buffy touched her.

"Ugh I forgot how annoying this was" Buffy said under her breath.

"Dawnie what do _you _want to do?" Willow asked the little girl.

"I wanna stay with you" Dawn said as she clinged to Willow's arm.

"Ok whatever, I'm gonna go call Giles and Xander see if they can come over." Buffy announced before walking out the door.

Once Buffy was gone Tara started talking. "I am so sorry, I-I didn't" then Willow cut her off

"No Tara it's not your fault, I mean it's good that you did it, I mean, she's not in a hospital bed, or," Willow paused before continuing, dreading her next word, "dead."

Dawn tapped Willow's arm and motioned for her to come closer. "Who's that?" she whispered in Willow's ear.

"Tara" Willow replied.

"Oh, is she nice?" Dawn whispered back.

"Yes, she's very nice" Willow said as she shot Tara a smile.

Sorry these chapters have been so short, been kinda busy but I'm hoping the next one will be longer. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And keep em coming!


	4. Chapter 4

"I DON'T WANNA GO! I DON'T WANNA GO! I DON'T WANNA GOOOOO!" Dawn screamed at the top of her lungs. Xander was holding her and Giles was trying to keep her from kicking, while Buffy was holding her arms, trying to calm her down.

"Dawn stop screaming!" Buffy yelled over her sister.

"You know its amazing just how much noise something so small can make" Willow said whilst looking through one of her research books. She was rubbing her temples, trying desperately to concentrate on the text.

"Dawn were just going to the magic box okay? It's not the end of the world" Buffy said trying to refrain herself from sounding harsh.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dawn screamed as she finally kicked her legs free from Giles' strong hold. She began kicking everything she could reach, including Buffy.

"Okay you know what just forget it!" Buffy yelled after she had enough of her sisters crap, "I'll just stay here, she can have her little tantrum, and everyone can hear themselves think for once." She finished as she put Dawn on the floor.

Dawn took that chance to run upstairs, but not before she kicked Buffy in the shin.

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled after her, but she was already gone.

"Buffy you have to patrol, that new Vezclof demon is in town" Xander told her while sitting down next to Willow on the couch.

"I'm afraid Xander is right Buffy, if the information we've gathered is correct, it's going to attack tonight" Giles agreed.

"Okay, well, I'll just go get Spike and he can watch Dawn while we patrol."

"Are you sure Spike can handle that?" Willow asked, "I mean, he's not too big in the patience department."

"Well too bad, he's gonna have to." Buffy replied.

"Why don't I just stay here with her? I mean it's my fault this happened." Tara offered.

"Well that'd be great except Dawn doesn't exactly know you, I don't think shed listen." Xander explained.

"But Dawn doesn't know Spike either." Willow reminded him.

"Well who _does_ she know?" Buffy asked.

Willow thought for a moment, "Ummm I think just me Xander and Giles, or wait, maybe not Giles, how old was she when you found out you were the slayer?"

Buffy put her hand on her forehead in frustration. "I don't know, I don't think I really paid that much attention to her until dad left"

"Well Dawn seems to be fond of Willow, so she can stay here and look after her." Giles said trying to work things out, "and Tara and Anya can stay at the shop and research. And Xander, Buffy and I will patrol with Spike."

"When will you guys be back?" Willow asked.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't wait up, it could be a while." Buffy answered before Giles got the chance.

"Does she even have anything to eat here?" Willow asked, "I mean wasn't this age her cookie, peanut butter, and macaroni obsession age? We don't have any of that."

"Well if you're brave enough, take her shopping." Buffy said as she handed Willow some money, "and get her some clothes too, I don't know how long she's gonna be like this."

Willow nodded in response, "whose car can I use?"

"Mine" Xander said as he threw her the keys.

"Ok" Willow said as she ran up the stairs to go find Dawn.

"Dawnie?" Willow said as she walked down the hall. She stopped in Dawn's room first. "Dawn?" she looked around the room and she didn't see her, she checked the closet, no Dawn. She walked further down the hall and into Buffy's room, no Dawn. She finally came into hers and Tara's room and still, no Dawn. She turned around to leave.

"RAHH!" Dawn screamed as she jumped out of the bathroom, "I'm a vampire!" she exclaimed as she walked closer to Willow with her hands up like claws, she had some Halloween vampire teeth in her mouth.

"Oh no!" Willow decided shed play Dawn's little game. She acted like she was really scared while she creeped past Dawn.

Dawn leaped towards Willow and started growling.

"Ahh! No don't hurt me!" Willow yelped as she ran into Dawn's room and onto the bed.

"Hey no feet on the bed!" Dawn yelled, but her words were slurred because of the teeth.

"Hey you're not a vampire!" Willow said while pointing at Dawn.

"Okay! Okay! It's just me" she said while pulling the teeth out. She saw they were all slimy from her spit and made a face.

"I thought you looked familiar!" Willow said while picking Dawn up and throwing her on the bed. Dawn let out a giggle. "Ahh!" Willow yelled as she began tickling Dawn in anyplace she was unguarded, making Dawn explode in a fit of giggles and squirms.

Finally, the laughing subsided and they got off the bed.

"Okay come on Dawnie we have to go to the store"

Dawn stopped in her tracks. "I don't wanna go to the magic bosh"

Willow smiled at her attempt. "No hunnie were going to a different store, just you and me" she said as the two walked down the stairs, the others had already left.

Dawn smiled at that; shed always liked Willow, even more so than Buffy. "Oh." Dawn thought for a second, "what kind of store?"

"Well I don't know yet," then Willow perked up, "but after we can get ice cream!"

Suddenly Dawn's grin was from ear to ear. Willow got the keys and they went out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Willow got the last of the shopping bags into the trunk as she walked around to the front seat.

"So Dawnie are you ready for ice cream?" she asked as she closed the door, although she already knew the answer.

"Yeah!" Dawn squealed.

"Okay get your seatbelt on." Willow put hers on as well. Dawn was struggling with hers and couldn't figure it out. "Here." Willow said as she helped the younger girl. Once they were both situated Willow drove away.

"What time is that demon supposed to attack again?" Buffy asked annoyed and bored.

"Midnight" Giles replied also annoyed because Buffy kept going through this.

"So then remind me again why I'm here now."

"To find a way to turn Dawn back" Xander filled in.

"Well what if I like her better this way? At this age she actually told me what was going on. So can't we just keep her like this?" Buffy suggested.

"Buffy you know we can't do that"

"Why not?" Buffy ranted "I mean it's not like she'd remember or anything, and we can do some kind of memory spell on everyone so they'll forget that Dawn was older, and then we can get her in school and she can be cute and innocent all over again and I can actually pay attention and then maybe when she does get older she'll like me better"

Nobody answered her question because everyone knew that she knew it wasn't a good idea.

After a pause the phone rang, Anya answered it. "Hello you've reached the magic box, if you'd like to place an order please describe after the beep, if you're trying to sell us something then please hang up now, beep." Anya said as she hung up the phone. Everyone was just looking at her.

"Anya you do know that your supposed to actually talk to the people when they call right?" Xander asked his soon to be wife.

"Well I don't feel like making a sale over the phone right now." Anya defended.

Everyone just shrugged it off and went back to their books.

"So Dawn, what do you want to do now?" Willow asked as she threw away her cup that had held her sundae in it.

"I don't know." Dawn had just finished her cone.

Willow giggled as Dawn looked up at her; she had chocolate ice cream smeared all over her pale little face. "Let's get you cleaned up." Willow said with a smile. She got some napkins and began to wipe Dawn's face off. "Hold still" she said while wiping Dawn's cheek. "Okay let's go."

Willow helped Dawn into the backseat of Xander's car, then she got in herself.

"Where are we going now?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Back home." Willow replied.

"But I don't want to go home." Dawn pouted.

"Where do you want to go?"

Dawn though hard for a moment. "The park?"

Willow thought of all the vampire activity that had been going on there lately, "no hunnie that's not such a good idea" then she saw Dawn's frown, "how about we go home and watch a movie and eat popcorn?" she tried to cheer her up.

"Okay" Dawn said a little disappointed.

"This. Is so. Boring." Anya said looking at her research book, "Giles when can we stop this insane boredom fest?"

"When we find what were looking for" Giles replied cleaning his glasses for the 1000th time.

"Well what are we looking for exactly? I don't get it" Xander asked.

"We're looking for the spell that Tara accidentally cast" Giles replied.

"Actually I think it was the spell that I tried to cast." Tara said pointing to her book. "I read about it more and it said that the more you add of the specific ingredients, the more powerful the spell. So I think that I did the right one, just added too much of everything."

"So what does it do if it's more powerful as apposed to what it's supposed to do?" Buffy asked.

"Well I did the spell to go back 10 hours, so maybe the fact that I added too much, made it go back 10 years?" Tara said still not quite sure if what she was saying was correct.

"How do we fix it?" Giles asked cleaning his glasses yet again.

"Well I don't really know yet, that's what I'm looking for."

"Okay well since Tara found the right book, can I stop looking now?" Anya asked closing her book.

"Yes Anya." Giles answered.

"Finally!" she said as she stood up and began dusting a bookshelf.

Hey this chapter is a little longer I've had some more time on my hands lately. Thanks for all the reviews! Also I think that if I changed the summary of this story it would attract more readers, but I'm really bad at summaries, so if anyone has a good one for what has happened so far please email it to me, my emails in my profile. It would help a lot!


	6. Chapter 6

Willow moved her foot from under her, it had fallen asleep. She sighed as she turned the screen off, the movie had just ended. She went to get up but tripped over Dawn, she was sleeping on the floor. She picked Dawn up to carry her into her room. She made a small sound but Willow just ignored it. She got her up the stairs and laid her down on her bed. She heard the door open and close downstairs.

"Hello?" she called as she walked down the hall and down the stairs.

"Hey!" Tara and Xander said simultaneously, "how was Dawn duty?" Xander asked shutting the door behind him.

"Great"

"What happened in here?" Buffy asked referring to the popcorn all over the living room floor.

"Food fight with Dawnie" Willow answered hoping Buffy wouldn't be mad. "I'll clean it up" she said walking into the kitchen to get the garbage can.

"So now what?" Xander asked sitting on the chair, only to stand back up hearing the popcorn crunch under him.

Buffy sighed "I dunno. We wait till midnight?"

Willow walked back out of the kitchen and began picking up the small pieces. Tara knelt down to help her lover.

Xander watched them for a couple seconds. "Ok well if all were doing is waiting, I'm going home. I'll be back at like 10" Xander said walking out the door.

Buffy began helping Willow as well. "This would be easier if we vacuumed" she commented, "why don't we get everything off the couch and chair onto the floor and just vacuum it up?"

"Sounds like a plan" Willow said getting the vacuum. After they got everything on the floor she turned it on and began sucking up the little kernels.

Dawn woke up because of the noise and came downstairs to see what was going on.

"Hey Dawnie did we wake you up?" Willow asked her.

"Yeah" she stated climbing onto the couch.

"Are you hungry?" Buffy asked her sister.

"No"

"We ate already." Willow told her.

"Oh" Buffy said with a sigh.

"This is boring" Dawn complained after a long period of silence.

"Well what do you wanna do?" Tara asked.

"Play"

"Play what?"

"A game"

"Well that narrowed it down," Buffy said sarcastically, "what game?"

"Ummm," she thought for a second, "twister."

Buffy sighed, she hated that game.

"Ok go get it" Willow told her.

"I don't know where it is" Dawn said.

"I'll get it" Tara walked up the stairs.

"Okay let's move the table" Buffy stated and waited for Willow to grab the other end. "1, 2, 3" with 3 they both lifted the table and moved it to the corner of the room.

"Here it is" Tara came back into the living room, game in hand.

They set up the mat and everyone took their positions, Buffy opted out of playing and had spinner duty.

Buffy spun hard and fast, "Right hand blue" Buffy called. Everyone put their right hand on blue. "Left foot green" she waited for everyone, "left hand yellow."

After about 10 minutes everyone was pretty tangled up, Willow's arm was reached over Tara's stomach, Tara had her legs crossed and was resting with her hands behind her. Dawn could have been sitting in a much less complicated way, but chose to make it more interesting by crossing her arms and legs when it was completely unnecessary.

"Right hand red" Buffy stated after another spin.

Tara tried to shift herself but fell on her butt in the process.

"Tara's out!" Dawn yelled happy that she only had one more opponent.

"Okay" Tara said standing up.

"You want the spinner?" Buffy asked.

"Sure" Tara sat down next to Buffy and took the spinner. Buffy stayed to watch. "Left foot blue" Willow and Dawn did so. "Right foot green"

After a couple minutes Willow decided she didn't want to play anymore, so she began tickling Dawn, causing her to fall.

"HEY! You cheated!" Dawn yelled.

"You're right" Willow said trying to look disappointed, "You win"

Dawn was pleased with herself. She liked winning, a lot.

"Okay let's clean up" Buffy said putting the spinner in the box. They folded the mat and put it away. "Ok Dawn its late you should go to bed"

"No" Dawn retorted crossing her arms.

"Yes" Buffy said trying to grab her.

"NO!" Dawn screamed pushing Buffy away. She ran into the kitchen.

"When we get her back to normal remind me never to have kids." Buffy said going after Dawn, but Willow stopped her.

"Buffy you're not going to get her to do anything that way."

"Well then you get her to go to bed." Buffy challenged.

"Ask her if she'll watch a movie instead, she'll fall asleep." Willow suggested.

"What if she doesn't?" Buffy asked.

"She will, she's tired, she just wants to do things her way."

Buffy figured she should probably try this seeing as Willow got her to sleep earlier.

"Dawnie?" Buffy called going into the next room.

"I don't want to go to bed!" Dawn yelled.

"I know you don't, but will you watch a movie with us?"

"Okay" Dawn agreed. She stood up and Buffy walked behind her into the living room. Willow and Tara had moved the table back.

"What movie do you want to watch?" Tara asked her.

"I don't care"

"Okay then" Buffy selected a movie and put it in the DVD player. Tara and Dawn sat on the couch, Willow sat on the floor by Tara's feet, and Buffy took a seat in the chair.

They sat quietly until the movie was over, and then Buffy got up and turned the TV off. She looked back at Dawn. Willow was right, she was fast asleep.

"Good call Will" Buffy said gesturing to Dawn, "lets just leave her there I don't want her to wake up." She finished as she put a blanket over her sleeping sister.

"Its almost 10, Xander should be here soon." Tara pointed out.

Buffy lifted Dawn's head and slipped a pillow underneath. "Okay, well I'll be upstairs."

A/N- thanks for all the reviews! I hope you all like it so far. I know what direction I'm going with this and I want to make sure I'm keeping your attention, so please keep reviewing!


	7. Chapter 7

Dawn woke up in the living room. She wondered how she had gotten down there, but then she remember last nights activities, she smiled. She looked around the downstairs and she couldn't find anyone, it was barely light outside. She figured they were still sleeping so she went upstairs.

Dawn walked down the hall to her mother and father's room and reached up to open the door. She got a puzzled look on her face when she saw two people in it, and neither one was her parents. She walked up to the side that her mother usually slept on. It was Willow. But why was Willow in her mom's bed?

"How come you're in here?" Dawn asked loudly so that Willow would hear her.

Willow awoke looking startled. "What? Dawnie what's wrong?" she asked wiping her eyes.

"How come you're in here?" she repeated.

"What do you mean?" Willow still didn't get it.

"Where's my mom?"

Willow's face soon turned to dread. "Oh," Willow really didn't want to tell her that her mom was dead, so she decided to pawn this off on Buffy, "umm I don't know go ask Buffy."

"Okay" Dawn said walking out of the room.

"Tara?" Willow shook her awake "Tara we've got a problem. Dawn's asking for her mom"

"Oh. What did you tell her?"

"To go ask Buffy."

"Oh." Tara simply stated, but then she realized that Buffy was going to have to tell her, "oh." She said a little more concerned.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled running into her sister's room. "Buffy!" she yelled again climbing onto her bed, it was difficult for her because she was so short. She crawled over towards her sister's face, then she noticed that Buffy had bruise on her face and neck. "Buffy? BUFFY!" she screamed as a last attempt to wake her up.

Buffy shot up faster than a cannon, hitting foreheads with Dawn as she did so.

"Oww!" Dawn yelled grabbing her head. "Owww" she put her face into a nearby pillow.

"Ooh Dawnie I'm sorry, are you okay?" she asked while rubbing Dawn's back lightly. Buffy heard her start to cry. "Dawn? Hunnie it's not that bad" Buffy tried picking her up to comfort her but Dawn pushed her away. "Dawn it was an accident"

After Dawn was finished crying she just got up and left.

'Well that was pleasant' Buffy thought to herself as she got out of bed and went to the bathroom. She was so happy it was Saturday; she didn't feel like going to work after last nights fight. Her and Spike had killed the Vezclof demon, but it put up a big fight.

Buffy ran the water in the bathtub. 'This will feel so good' she thought.

Willow and Tara were downstairs in the kitchen having coffee. Dawn came down the steps and sat in front of the TV as she turned it to cartoons.

"So what's on Willow's to do list today?" Tara asked Willow.

"Umm I have 2 classes. What about you?"

"Same"

As if on cue they both rested their head on their hands and sighed.

"I'm hungry!" Dawn exclaimed walking into the kitchen.

"Well what would you like?" Tara asked standing up.

"Ice cream!" Dawn squealed as she climbed onto a stool.

"Try again" Tara told her.

Dawn scowled "cereal" she spat.

Tara just ignored her rudeness and got a bowl out of the cabinet.

"Butthead" she muttered under her breath.

"Dawn be nice" Dawn crossed her arms. "Ask her nicely" Willow told her.

Dawn just stared at Willow; Tara continued to get the cereal.

"No Tara stop" Tara looked at her, "wait until she asks you politely." Willow looked at Dawn expectantly. Dawn just stared blankly at her.

"Willow really its ok" Tara reasoned.

"No its not, that was rude and you deserve an apology."

Dawn continued to stare, both Willow and Tara were looking at her and she didn't like it, so she caved.

"Sorry." she said quietly.

"Good. Now ask her to get you some cereal." Willow told her.

"Will you get me some cereal?" she asked, she looked at Willow who had her eyebrow raised to tell her that she forgot something, "please?" she finished.

"Yes I will" Tara replied with a smile. "And thank you for apologizing."

Dawn made another face. She waited for Tara to finish, and then she started eating.

After Buffy had finished her bath and got ready for the day, she came downstairs. Willow and Tara were sitting on the couch studying, and Dawn was sitting on the floor by the TV, watching Sesame Street.

"Hey" Buffy said to no one in particular.

Willow looked up from her schoolbook, "hi Buffy" Willow greeted her.

"So what are we doing today?" Buffy asked.

"School" Willow and Tara said at the same time.

"Oh. Well then I'll call Xander and see if he can watch Dawn."

"Why can't you watch her?" Willow asked her.

"I have to go see Angel about something"

"Oh okay" Willow said a little confused.

Buffy walked into the kitchen and dialed Xander's number.

"Hello?" Anya answered the phone.

"Hi Anya, can I talk to Xander?"

"Sure" Anya handed the phone over to Xander.

"Hello?" Xander said into the phone.

"Hi it's me."

"Hey."

"Can you watch Dawn today?" Buffy got straight to the point.

"No sorry I have to work."

"Okay, what about Anya?"

"Work"

"Okay thanks anyway."

"Ciya later." Xander told her.

"Bye"

Buffy hung up the phone and thought of who else could watch Dawn.

"I'll be back in a little bit" Buffy told Willow and Tara as she grabbed her coat and opened the front door.

"Where are you going?"

"Spike's, I'm gonna see if he can watch Dawn." she said as she closed the door behind her.

Spike was sitting in his crypt having a nice warm mug of blood, when Buffy came barging through the door.

"Hey" Buffy greeted him.

"You could knock you know"

"Sorry, but I need you to watch Dawn today."

"Cant, suns up"

"Well that doesn't seem to stop you when YOU want to go somewhere."

"Yea well I DON'T want to go somewhere, so I'm not going to."

"Spike please, there's no one else to watch her."

"She can stay by herself, the girls like 15 or something, shouldn't she have some freedom by now?"

"Well she would, except she's not 15, she's 4."

This got Spike's attention and for the first time during this conversation, he looked at her.

"What?"

"Long story, Tara's spell went all wonky on us, but can you watch her?"

"Sure, I guess, it's not like I have a life; or a non-life anyway."

Spike got up and went downstairs for a second, then emerged with a large blanket.

"When did you get drapes? You don't even have windows." Buffy asked the vampire.

"Don't remember, went away for a bit an when I came back, they were there"

"Oh" Buffy said as she opened the crypt door and they both slipped out.

A/N- This chapter is a little longer. Thanks for all the reviews, they mean a lot. I already know what I want to do with the next couple chapters but if you have any ideas for what to do after that please tell me in a review, also I still need help with the summary issue. So please, if you have ANY ideas, please PLEASE tell me!


	8. Chapter 8

"I hope Buffy gets here soon, we need to go or were going to be late." Tara said to Willow.

"I know" Willow replied looking out the window anxiously, "why don't you go ahead. I can stay here and wait"

"No I'll stay."

"Really you should go; I don't want you to be late for class."

"Willow its ok, I'll stay and wait with you." Tara assured her.

"Oh she's here." Willow said as she put the last of her school books into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

Willow and Tara walked outside before Spike and Buffy even got up to the porch.

"Hey Buffy!" Willow called to her.

"Hey" Buffy replied.

"We have to get going, but we'll see you later." Tara said as her and Willow walked down the sidewalk.

"Ok bye!"

Dawn had come down the stairs when she heard the door open, she didn't see anyone so she looked out the window in the living room.

When Spike got under the shelter of the porch awning he decided it was shady enough for him to take the blanket off.

"Thanks so much for doing this Spike."

"No problem luv."

"Okay well Will should be back around 5 so,"

"Where's the nibblet?"

"I don't know, inside somewhere. But I have to go, thanks again!" Buffy yelled as she ran through the yard and got into her car.

Dawn saw Buffy get into her car and then realized that she had seen Spike before, and he wasn't too nice.

Spike stood on the porch until Buffy had driven away. Then he turned to open the door, but it was locked. "Damn it!" Spike yelled as he looked into the small windows that were on the door, he saw Dawn making her way into the kitchen.

"DAWN! Dawn let me in!" Spike yelled pounding on the door. "Dawn I know you can hear me!" he continued to bang on the door "Dawn let me in right now!"

Spike walked over to the window and looked inside.

Dawn poked her head back around the corner to see if he could see her, which was stupid, because she was met with two very angry blue eyes.

"DAWN!" Spike yelled when he made eye contact with her. "Open the door!"

Dawn just looked at him, not sure of what to do. Then she remembered where she had seen him before; he was behind her daycare, biting a small boy.

Spike could sense that she was scared; he could see it in her eyes.

"Nibblet, open the door. The suns getting too high, I can't stay out here much longer." Spike told her, trying to sound calm.

Dawn stared at him, he didn't look that scary, but that boy seemed so scared. He had been screaming.

"Dawn, open the door" he said in a much firmer tone.

Dawn debated whether or not to let him in, she started towards the door.

"Finally" Spike said as he went back over to the door and looked at her through the door windows again.

Dawn was walking as slow as possible.

"Dawn hurry up" Spike urged. He put his hand on the doorknob and waited for her to unlock it.

When Dawn got up to the door she stopped. She turned around and went up the stairs.

"NO! DAWN! Open the door!" Dawn continued up the stairs, "Dawn open the door now!" Spike commanded.

"Bloody hell" Spike swore as Dawn disappeared upstairs. He decided to try the back door. He grabbed his blanket and walked around to the back of the house. He tried the door, to his surprise, it was unlocked. He walked into the living room and sat on the chair in the corner of the room.

Several minutes later Dawn came back down the steps. She didn't notice Spike in the corner and got up on the couch to look outside.

"Won't find me out there bit" Spike said to her.

Dawn jumped with fright.

"How'd you get in here?"

"Back door, you know you really shouldn't be locking your sitter out of the house."

"You better go. My sisters real strong and she'll beat you up!" Dawn warned.

"Dawn your sisters the one who asked me to come."

"What's your name?" Dawn asked curiously.

"Spike"

"That's a stupid name"

Spike just rolled his eyes and got a pack of cigarettes out of his duster. He put one up to his mouth and lit it.

"That's gross" Dawn stated.

"Not really interested in your opinion luv"

Spike stood and walked over to the couch and sat down, at the same time Dawn got off the couch and sat in the chair that Spike was in. she didn't want to sit next to him.

Spike grabbed the remote and turned the TV to something he liked.

"Why are you wearing so much clothes?" Dawn asked.

"Because I feel like it"

"Are you hot?"

"No"

"I would be; it's real hot outside"

Spike didn't say anything.

"Why is your hair that color?"

"I don't know"

"It looks stupid"

"I don't care"

"You should"

"Yeah well, I don't" Spike was rather annoyed at this point.

"Why are you so pale?"

"I don't know"

"Why?"

"I don't know"

"How come you don't know anything?" Spike ignored her once again, "you're stupid"

Spike sighed.

"Why are you wearing all black?"

"Because I like it"

"It's stupid"

"I don't care"

"Why are you so tall?"

"Why are you so short?" Spike turned her game around.

"Cause I am"

"Why is your hair brown?"

"Because my dads is"

"Why are you wearing that shirt?"

"Cause I like it"

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

"Because I like to"

"Why don't you ever close your mouth?"

"I don't know"

"Okay well why don't you shut up and go think about it"

Dawn scowled. She got off her chair and went upstairs; on her way up she made sure to stomp as hard as possible on every step, which still wasn't that hard.

Spike sighed and put his feet up on the table.

A/N- You like? I hope so...keep reviewing! This was actually the first chapter I wrote in this story, but it didn't make sense so I put some more in front of it. Kinda weird, but it's an interesting little fact. Lol. So yeah, keep reviewing and I'll try to get another chapter up soon.


	9. Chapter 9

Spike was sitting on the couch in silence. Complete silence. Usually he enjoyed this, but right now it bothered him. It wasn't really silence anyway, seeing as he could hear every movement upstairs. He could hear Dawn shifting in bed. He could hear her breathing deeply. He could hear her heart beating steadily. He could hear her- 

screaming.

Spike ran up the stairs as fast as he could, and with his vampire speed he was up there within a matter of seconds. He barged through the door to Dawn's room to find her being practically sucked under her bed. He rushed over to her and tried to pull her up, but something was holding her down, and that something was strong.

"Spike make it stop! Make it stop!" Dawn cried. She was holding on to his shirt for dear life and her fingernails were digging into his skin.

"Kick your legs." he instructed. She did as she was told whilst still holding onto him. "Harder!" Spike yelled as he continued to pull her out.

Just as Spike thought he was starting to win another clawed hand came out and grabbed Dawn around the waist, causing her to scream even louder.

He managed to get her waist free and then concentrated on her legs. He shifted his arms around Dawn so that he could pull her without hurting her. He pulled with all his strength and she came right out, along with the demons not-so-attached-arm.

As soon as she was free Dawn hugged Spike harder than he thought humanly possible. He hugged her back as he picked her up, but the arm came with her. Dawn shrieked and threw it off, and he carried her out of the room.

Spike took her to the bathroom and sat her down on the counter. Then he reached into a drawer and pulled out a first aid kit.

He set the kit down on the counter next to her. "Here, turn this way." Spike told her as he helped her turn to the left.

Once she was there he lifted her leg up and looked at the worst of several cuts going up and down her leg.

He turned the water on and held her leg under the faucet. Once the water running off her leg was mostly clear he coated the deeper wounds with antiseptic spray.

"Oww!" Dawn pulled her leg away from him, but he pulled it right back. "No that stings!"

"Dawn." He simply stated with a warning tone, and she backed down quickly.

He finished covering her legs with bandages and moved to her stomach.

"Lie down." He instructed as he lifted her shirt. The cuts on her stomach were much deeper, but there were less of them. Dawn winced with pain as he touched the areas around the cuts. He cleaned them off with a washcloth and wrapped gauze around it.

"There" he said lifting her off the counter, he went to put her back on the ground but as he stood back up she wouldn't let go of his neck, so he just held her again.

Spike one handedly put the unused items back into the first aid kit and put the kit back in the drawer.

He walked over to her bedroom door and put a chair and bookcase in front of it, so that nothing could get out. After he was satisfied that the door was blocked he took Dawn downstairs and into the kitchen.

Spike sat her on the kitchen counter and moved towards the phone. He dialed Buffy's cell phone number.

"Hello?" she answered.

"You need to get back here."

"What? Why? Is Dawn okay?"

"Yeah she's fine. Demon attacked in her room, got it to back off but it's still in there."

"Well hack its head off!"

"I don't know what this thing can do, so if you think that I'm just going to throw myself in th-"

"OKAY fine I get it I'll come back, Angel's not here anyway."

"Right then, were gonna head down to the shop, maybe Giles can figure out what it is"

"Fine, let me talk to her."

Spike held the phone out to Dawn, but she didn't take it.

"Its big sis" he told her.

Dawn still didn't move so he held it to her ear.

"Dawnie?" Buffy called into the phone, no answer "Dawn? Dawn are you there?" Buffy gave up and closed her cell phone.

Spike looked at Dawn a little confused. She was just sitting there. He held the phone to his ear, "you still there?" he didn't hear a reply so he hung up the phone.

"Nibblet? You alright?" He lowered himself to look into her eyes, she didn't answer.

Spike let out an unneeded sigh as he grabbed his blanket from the chair.

"Come on" he told her while picking her up off the counter again.

After walking to the front door he put Dawn on the ground and knelt down to her level.

"Your gonna have to follow me, can you do that?" she nodded.

He covered himself with the blanket, opened the door, and stepped outside.

* * *

Sorry for the wait, had a lot going on. But that's done now so the next chapter should get up quicker :o). Thanks to Gep for help with the summary. And thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far! Keep them coming! They fuel me! Lol ok I think that's it...I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! 


	10. Chapter 10

Giles looked up from his book at the sound of the door bell.

"Spike, Dawn, what are you doing here?" he asked the pair as they made there way to the table in the middle of the shop.

"Demon attacked us, or well her" Spike pointed to Dawn, "came here so you could tell us what it was."

"What did it look like?" Anya asked from behind the counter.

"Well I didn't really get a look at it, it was under her bed, only saw its arm. Pulled it off actually."

"Well then what did the arm look like?" Giles asked.

"Black skin, long nails, sort of lumpy, and long" he explained.

"Yes well we'll see what we can do," Giles took off his glasses to clean them, "but in the mean time I think Dawn should stay here, so whatever it was cant attack again"

"Right, nibblet come sit over here" Spike instructed, pointing to a chair. Dawn looked at him but didn't budge. "Dawn come here" he told her again, this time more sternly. She complied. He picked her up and sat her on the chair, where she continued to sit in silence.

"You got any blood watcher?"

"In the back" Giles stated a little distracted by his book.

Spike left the room.

"What are we supposed to do with her?" Anya asked Giles.

"I'm not sure really" Giles replied.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?" Anya asked Dawn, over-pronouncing each syllable.

"Anya she's 4, not deaf"

"Right," Anya noted, "What" she started slowly, making a gesture with her hands, "do you" she pointed to Dawn, "want to do" she finished.

Giles sighed and rolled his eyes.

Spike emerged from the back room with a mug half full of blood.

"I think it's broken" Anya said waving her hand in front of Dawn's face, which was stiller than ever.

Giles looked at her, "Anya would you leave her alone" Anya scowled, "she's been through quite a bit, she doesn't need you pestering her."

Anya huffed a sigh and walked back behind the counter.

* * *

Sorry guys, really short chapter. The next one will be longer I promise; I just didn't have that much time to finish this one. Well keep on reviewing 'hint hint' and I'll be sure to get the next chapter up soon. 


	11. Chapter 11

A/N to everyone- someone emailed me and asked if Spike was chipped and the answer is NO...just so that everyone else knows too.

* * *

Spike came out of the back room when he heard the door opening, it was Willow and Tara.

"Hey guys" Willow said casually.

"Hi" Giles replied coming out of the basement.

Tara smiled, "What's up?"

"We're trying to find Dawn's attacker"

"Dawn was attacked?" Willow asked. She walked over to Dawn, "Are you okay?"

Dawn simply stared at her.

"Dawn?" Willow became more worried, "what was it?" she asked Giles.

"I'm not sure yet, we've been researching for a while now, but I believe the text I'm looking for is at home."

Willow looked towards him, "you haven't found _anything_?"

"Well I came across a demon called Kyleerin but it regenerates itself so seeing as Spike pulled its arm off, that wouldn't make sense."

"That wasn't it" Dawn said quietly.

Nobody else picked it up, but Spike did, "what?"

Everyone looked at Spike, he pointed to Dawn.

"What did you say nibblet?"

"That's not who it was" she said a little louder, but still barely audible, so no one heard it but Willow and Spike.

Tara made a face, "What?"

"She said that's not the right demon" Spike answered.

"Dawnie do you know what it was?" Willow asked the younger girl.

Dawn nodded.

"What was it?"

Dawn motioned for Willow to come closer so that she could whisper in her ear. "The boogeyman"

Spike scoffed and walked back into the back room. Tara looked at Willow questioningly.

"Dawn, honey that's just a story"

"No its not he's real"

"No he's not, Buffy just told that he was to scare you" Willow reasoned.

"He's real!"

"Hey she's talking." Anya commented emerging from the basement, "who's real?"

"The boogeyman" Willow answered, Giles and Tara got an 'oh' face, "Dawn he's not real I promise"

"Don't promise her that" Anya told her.

Tara looked at her, "What?"

Spike came back.

"He's real" Anya stated bluntly, everyone gave her a look "the boogeyman, he's real, if you want to call him that. His real name is George; I met him in the early 18th century. He wasn't too friendly; he tried to decapitate me" everyone kept staring at her, "he didn't succeed." She added.

"Well how do we kill him?" Spike asked her.

"I'm not sure" Anya replied.

Giles began thinking out loud, "well we need more information on this. Do you know where we can find it?" he asked Anya.

"No"

"We need to get Buffy back here."

"She's coming, I called after it happened."

"Dawn how did you know that was it?" Giles asked her.

"I heard it" she replied quietly.

Spike made a face, "there wasn-"

"What did you hear exactly?" Giles cut him off and held up a hand to signal Spike to stop talking. He walked closer to Dawn.

"Him"

"What did he say?" Willow took over.

Dawn was hesitant to tell them, Willow could see this and nodded to encourage her.

"You're not allowed to be here"

"Anything else?"

"I'll take it away"

Anya was surprised, "that was it? He usually much more vocal"

"Anya please!"

"Did he say anything else?" Willow asked her, "anything at all?"

"Stop moving bitch"

Everyone's eyes widened, Spike laughed.

"Okay, um when Buffy gets here, you might want to um, not say that last part, okay?" Tara advised with a smile.

Dawn just looked at her.

"There's a problem with this theory, I was there the entire time and I didn't hear any of this." Spike said to everyone.

"Adults can't hear him" Anya told him, "or see him. Its like this enchantment he had some gypsies do or something."

"I saw his arm"

"Oh, well demons are immune, so maybe vampire counts too."

"Then why didn't I hear him?"

Anya shrugged.

Giles took off his glasses to clean them, "I'm not sure but we'll find out why. You can go though"

"I'm not leaving the nibblet till Buffy gets back"

"Well she's leaving" Willow stepped in.

Willow picked up Dawn, "are you hungry?" she asked her.

Dawn nodded.

"Alright were gonna get her out of here, go get something to eat." Willow headed for the door, "you ready?" she asked Tara. Tara nodded and followed.

"Where are we gonna go?" Tara asked once the door was shut behind them.

Willow thought, "I don't know"

Tara turned to Dawn, "well what do you want?"

Dawn made an 'I don't know' gesture.

"Okay then, first place we see it is."

* * *

Thanks for the reviews! Keep them going and I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP:o) 


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